Ecocolumn Analysis and Presentation Guidelines and Rubric-Update - - PDF document

Ecocolumn Analysis and Presentation Guidelines and Rubric-Update 12/4/2017 The ecocolumns that you and your group set up will be the focus of a semester-long analysis and data

• collection. The culmination of this project will be a presentation (PowerPoint) where your group shows

what they have learned and discovered. Following are what is required for each week starting on Week 3 of the semester. You are to record as much data as possible. There will be a 90 minute window of time set aside for data collection each week. Use the time wisely and efficiently. If you finish your work in class ahead of time you may use that time for analysis. Each week must have the following information collected and tasks completed:

• 1. Data collection including:
• Temperature of terrestrial chamber
• Temperature of aquatic chamber
• pH of soil in terrestrial chamber (use pH soil probe)
• pH of water in aquatic chamber (pH paper)
• 2. Pictures of each chamber
• 3. Notes on condition of each chamber (what is taking place, what has changed)
• 4. Short video of a member of your team where you discuss your findings (around 1 minute for each

week). Each member must do this and who does this must rotate each week. A colored sign will be provided by Mr. Sheffield and must be shown at the beginning of each video. Credit will not be given for any video segment that does not have this. Each person in your group is required to record data equally. If a member of your group is not contributing equally, please let Mr. Sheffield know. Points will be deducted from that person’(s)’ grade (the one not contributing/working). Once your group is completed with the analysis (approximately 10 weeks) unless otherwise noted by Mr. Sheffield, the data, pictures and videos will need to be compiled into a PowerPoint presentation. The group will turn in a single PowerPoint and each member will turn in a hard copy of the data they collected. I reserve the right to alter this project if the need arises. Any changes will be announced and an updated guidelines and rubric sheet will be issued.

Weekly data collection template Please use this sheet as a template as to how you should set up your weekly data collection sheet. Do not record all of your data on this sheet and turn it in. It will not be accepted. Use notebook paper or a composition book to record your data. Each week you should have this sheet will everything filled out and a full page of notes on your observations. When you turn in this, your individual portion of the project you should have 20 pages (10 data collection sheets and 10 observation pages) Date_________ Week ______ Terrestrial chamber temperature _______F Aquatic chamber temperature _______F Soil pH ________ Water pH ________ Pictures taken of each chamber  Terrestrial chamber _____  Decomposition chamber _____  Aquatic chamber _____ Video taken _____ Who was your group’s video speaker this week:______________________________

Ecocolumn Project Rubrics (Journal and Presentation)

This is the rubric for the hard copy data (each person)-100 points total-Individual grade-you have to provide your own hard copy of the data. Numbers should be the same for readings of all group members, but written descriptions must be IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Copying will result in a zero, a referral and a parent conference. Numbers should be the same, but your observations must be in your own words. Starting at week 6, all journal entries were required to have my stamp on them. If your journal entry (a full page for each week) does not have this, credit will not be given. Your journal should be (if you followed directions) 20 pages in length with one page dedicated to your quantitative data and one page dedicated to your qualitative data per week. Each of these assignments counts as a test grade. Temperature of terrestrial chamber None-0 Points 1 Week-1 Point 5 weeks-5 points 7 weeks-7 points 10 weeks-10 points Temperature of aquatic chamber None-0 Points 1 Week-1 Point 5 weeks-5 points 7 weeks-7 points 10 weeks-10 points Soil pH None-0 Points 1 Week-1 Point 5 weeks-5 points 7 weeks-7 points 10 weeks-10 points Water pH None-0 Points 1 Week-1 Point 5 weeks-5 points 7 weeks-7 points 10 weeks-10 points Notes on each chamber-one full page for each week None-0 Points 1 Week-6 Points 5 weeks-30 points 10 weeks-60 points For the PowerPoint Presentation portion of the project you are to take the information and put it on a PowerPoint. This is a group effort and all members must participate. If you are having trouble with a group member not participating let me know and I will intervene. However, do not wait until the last minute if this is the case. The due date is still the due date. You must have the following slides:

• Title page with each group member listed.
• Terrestrial chamber temperature chart
• Aquatic chamber temperature chart
• Soil pH chart
• Water pH chart
• Weekly summary for each week
• Slide for each week showing picture of your ecocolumn (label which week it was)
• Video of each week’s observations (one per slide)

Rubric for PowerPoint Presentation (group)-100 points total The following chart needs to be used to assign responsibility for the parts of the presentation. If a section is skipped by the group and no one signs up for it the group will have those points deducted. You will be graded on what you agree and sign on to do. The person must be present to sign up. This is to avoid the practice of lazy groups giving all the work to one person. Point values for the portions chosen are calculated based on the number of people in the group. If things are not balanced in a reasonable manner I will make adjustments as I see fit and the group will forfeit their right to have a choice in the matter. Task Person Responsible Terrestrial Temperature Chart Aquatic Temperature Chart Soil pH Chart Water pH Chart Terrestrial Temperature Analysis Summary-5 sentence Aquatic Temperature Analysis Summary-5 sentence Soil pH Analysis Summary-5 sentence Water pH Analysis Summary-5 sentence Week 1 Summary-5 sentence Week 2 Summary-5 sentence Week 3 Summary-5 sentence Week 4 Summary-5 sentence Week 5 Summary-5 sentence Week 6 Summary-5 sentence Week 7 Summary-5 sentence Week 8 Summary-5 sentence Week 9 Summary-5 sentence Week 10 Summary-5 sentence Everyone is responsible for this (missing items will be deducted from everyone’s grade) Pictures 3 per week x 10 0.5 points each (15 points total) Video 1 minute video per week x 10 1 point each (10 points total) Groups will need to divide the work up AND provide me with a contract saying who is doing what. The final product will consist of the parts put together, but each person will get a separate grade based on what they agreed to do and how well they carried it out. All parts must be taken and need to be evenly

• distributed. Each person needs to do at least one graph and a one-page discussion of what the readings
• ver the ten weeks meant for your eco-column. For example, if you have the water temperature you

must first construct a chart in Excel (using the template on my webpage) showing the readings over the course of the ten weeks. Then you will need to write a 5 sentence analysis explaining the correlation between the data and your observations.

Upload your PowerPoint to Google Classroom and turn your hand-written journal in to me personally. I will put the journals in a special folder for safe-keeping.